Rockets notes: Owner weighs in on season

ROCKETS NOTES

Published 5:00 am, Sunday, November 1, 2009

Pragmatic owner

For Rockets owner Leslie Alexander, the home opener brought different feelings and expectations than past seasons, but with optimism.

Alexander said he does not expect the Rockets “to win the championship,” as he has in past seasons, but he has been pleased with the developments in the preseason and first week of the season.

“Sometimes you have no choice (but to change expectations),” Alexander said Saturday. “We're in that situation right now. I'd love to see Yao (Ming) in the middle of these players. I'd like to see Tracy (McGrady), too, but Yao in the middle here would change everything.”

Alexander said he is confident about the rebuilt supporting cast because of the development of the new players and the move to a more up-tempo style.

“I wanted to fast break and we're doing that,” Alexander said. “I love the way (Trevor) Ariza has fit in and he's doing really well. Chase (Budinger) is a great rookie, so we've added talent. Aaron's (Brooks) come on and become a better player. And (Luis) Scola is starting to come on again. And the other new player, (David) Andersen can really shoot. We're coming together.”

Defensive stylings

The Rockets have customarily taken the unusual step of not using their best perimeter defender, Shane Battier, on the Blazers' best perimeter scorer, Brandon Roy.

In last season's playoff series, Ron Artest spent the majority of the time assigned to Roy. In the two meetings this season, Trevor Ariza has picked him up.

Coach Rick Adelman said the idea was to free Battier to help defensively, particularly with the Blazers running Roy through so many screens. He also wanted to gauge how Ariza did in the matchup.

“He (Battier) will get his shot at Roy,” Adelman said. “We're trying to get a feel for what all our people can do. Trevor, we're trying to find out how he plays those guys. But Shane is our best team defender. He's the one who follows the game plan. He's the one who can tell everyone what's going on. We've kind of gone that route, but we know we can slide him on the tougher guy.”